What is your opinion of Pope John Paul II? What do you think he meant to this world?

Pope John Paul II was a model of an exemplary life, one lived for others.

His life was filled with the presence of God. I'm sure that in the years to come the search for "miracles" will begin so that the process of canonization might take place. I'd like to submit that some of the great miracles of our time were performed through this man.

Among those miracles was the toppling of communism, the softening of hearts, the displacing of anger with respect and replacing hatred with love. I can't think of greater miracles than these. He forgave his would-be assassin and in so doing allowed us to see that humans can touch the divine realm.

Pope John Paul II was able to express the most complex issues in simple and profound terms. In an attempt to do the same in reflection of his life, I offer this: Pope John Paul II practiced what so many clergy preach.

FATHER VAZKEN MOVSESIAN

St. Peter Armenian Church & Youth Ministries' Center